Romney re-hires key player for political committee

By Glen Johnson, Globe Staff

Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney has re-hired a policy expert from his 2008 campaign for his expected second White House run.

Though the former Massachusetts governor has not formally announced another campaign, a string of recent hirings and comments has dropped all pretense that he is undecided about running again.

His Free and Strong America PAC announced today that Lanhee Chen will join the PAC as policy director.

In 2008, Chen served as Romney's chief domestic policy adviser during his first campaign for president. He was also a health policy adviser to the 2004 Bush-Cheney campaign.

Chen went on to serve the Bush administration as a senior policy and political aide at the US Department of Health and Human Services.

Most recently, Chen was the deputy campaign manager and policy director for Steve Poizner, the California insurance commissioner who made a failed bid for governor.

Chen earned a doctorate and masters in political science, a law degree cum laude, and an undergraduate degree in Government, magna cum laude, all from Harvard University.

Romney himself has business and law degrees from the school.

In recent weeks, the former governor has hired a new communications adviser and filled other top jobs at the PAC, which previously had been financing his national travels and providing a vehicle for him to make donations to like-minded political candidates.

Most recently, Romney sent $25,000 to the New Jersey Republican Party to help finance its activities.

Romney also penned a blog item last week talking about how he would change the Obama administration's health insurance program. It began, "If I were president..."

Glen Johnson can be reached at johnson@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @globeglen.